Fit Mom's Blog

Guest post by Coach Al Lyman! If you’re new here, I’m training for the St. George Marathon using his very detailed, structured marathon plan and I was curious as to the “why” of hopping in the plan. So, here is the answer. Thought you all would be interested in this!!

If you want to be able to run faster or longer more easily, it stands to reason that one of the key goals during your training should be to decrease the energy cost of running, or to put it in scientific terms, increase your efficiency or economy of movement. If you can do that, any given running speed will be at a lower percentage of your maximum “cost,” and thus should feel easier for you. Before I tell you some quick and easy ways to improve your running efficiency, I want to tell you a little bit about what is actually going on during the run stride that directly effects how efficient you are.

As you may know, about 50% of the energy that propels you forward during the run stride comes from elastic and reactive “energy-return” of your muscles! Your legs are essentially acting like springs when you run. When your foot hits the ground, various muscles and tendons are stretched and this stretching process stores energy. When the muscles and other soft tissue recoil as you toe-off, that energy is returned to help you move forward. If you didn’t have this “energy return,” then your heart and leg muscles would have to work a LOT harder for you to be able to run at any given speed.

The key to improving efficiency, or as I put it earlier, to “decrease the energy cost of running,” is to train to enhance the energy return, or “springiness,” of your legs. If they can store more energy, and release it more fully and more quickly during toe-off, your energy cost to run at that speed will decrease, and you’ll be able to run faster. This is the principal reason why you hear me say in Runner-CORE that one KEY to improved running form is to get your feet UP and OFF the ground as quickly as possible. Short ground contact time is unequivocally one of the most important elements to improved form, and improved efficiency.

Runner-CORE is a great program to help you begin to improve your functional strength and coordination so that your legs become more elastic, resilient and “springy.” To get even more benefit and take this to the next level however, you should begin to augment your training with some specific drills which will do a great job of enhancing this springiness, and thus your efficiency.

Incorporate the 3 drills below into your running and strength routine, and watch your energy cost drop and your leg speed and endurance soar! The first drill takes an existing exercise from Circuit #3 and enhances it. The 2^nd and 3^rd drills you can integrate into any run you do.

I highly recommend you try these as a part of your Runner-CORE workouts (as outlined below), or integrated right into your “quality” run workouts, AFTER your warm-up but prior to the “quality” portion of your run. Use caution as you progress – if you’ve never done hopping or bounding for any length of time, you may well be sore in the 26-48 hrs afterward. Have fun, train smart!

1) One-Leg Split Squats with Lateral Hops:

In circuit #3, one of the most challenging exercises are the 1-Leg Split Squats. You can progress with these by incorporating lateral hops on each leg. To do these, stand with one leg forward and one leg back up on a bench or block. As you lower the front leg to the point where these is about a 90degree bend in your front leg, explode UP and hop laterally about 10-12 inches, hop back to center, and then immediately hop to the other side about the same distance of 10-12 inches, before coming back to the center one last time. That’s 4 hops in all. Maintain good upright posture at all times and keep the back leg in position. Explode upward and to the side and really feel the enhanced SPRING in this action!

2) One-Leg Hopping:

Integrated into your run workouts or as part of a Runner-CORE session, these rapid “hops” (done in place or while you’re moving gradually forward) can get challenging! Begin with one foot up and the other in contact with the ground, with support right over your mid-foot. Begin hopping on one foot as fast as you can, as though your feet are in contact with a hot stove or hot coals! Your hips should remain nearly motionless and NOT move up or down. The action is at your feet! After hopping for 30 seconds on one leg, switch to the other side. Begin with 1 or 2 sets of 30-seconds on each side, and progress up to as much as 3-5 sets of 1-minute or more.

3) Skipping!

Occasionally integrate 2-3 sets of 20 to 30 seconds of skipping into a run. Try to keep ground contact time as short as possible and explode forward, bounding farther and farther with each stride. Start with short segments until your body has time to adapt and build both duration and sets over time. Have fun with it!

To summarize, I like to integrate these “hopping” segments right into my runs, by mixing in short fast segments of running in between the hopping sets. Mix it up, challenge yourself, and have fun! When you do these, you’ll soon discover that they can tire you out quickly, and that as you fatigue, it becomes harder and harder to get your feet UP off the ground quickly!

As always, you should use caution and start conservatively as you implement these drills into your routine. They are challenging and will result in some soreness if you’re doing them for the first time. Train smart, be progressive, and have fun!

Happy Trails!

- Coach Al

Coach Al Lyman, CSCS, is a nationally recognized full time professional coach, author, columnist, and motivational speaker, who has truly “been there and done that” in the world of endurance sports and his passionate about helping other get there too. As an athlete, besides being a 25-time marathon finisher with a PB of 2:39 at the Boston Marathon, Coach Al is a 9-time Ironman Triathlon finisher and has qualified for and finished 3-times at the World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. As a coach, his mission and passion is to “help people from every walk of life and ability level to achieve their dreams and goals through their participation in endurance sports.” To read his “story,” go here: http://coach-al.com/bio.html